A British healthcare worker who has contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being medically evacuated to Britain for specialist treatment, according to an official document seen by Reuters.
The patient is reported to be in a stable condition and is expected to reach Britain on Wednesday or Thursday. From there, a specialist ambulance will transfer the patient to a high-consequence infectious disease unit.
British authorities do not expect a serious public health impact in Britain and anticipate no disruption to international travel or trade.
The patient’s identity has not been disclosed. The patient had been sent to Congo by a humanitarian organisation to help support the response to the outbreak.
It is the first case involving a British national linked to the current outbreak, although several other people from elsewhere in Europe have also been infected. Switzerland last month evacuated an Ebola patient from Nigeria for treatment, and France in June reported its first confirmed case tied to the outbreak, in a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in Congo.
A UK government spokesperson said: “The risk to the UK public from Ebola remains low.”
Ebola is a severe viral disease spread through direct contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. The World Health Organization says it is fatal in about half of cases on average.
Imported cases are rare, with only four confirmed cases recorded in Britain since 1976, according to the UK Health Security Agency, and the NHS has procedures in place to manage suspected and confirmed infections.
The DR Congo outbreak is the second-largest on record, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases and nearly 5,000 deaths reported by late October.
Source: Reuters
